Large-amplitude variability driven by giant dust storms on a planetary-mass companion
Large-amplitude variations are commonly observed in the atmospheres of directly imaged exoplanets and brown dwarfs. VHS 1256B, the most variable known planet-mass object, exhibits a near-infrared flux change of nearly 40%, with red color and silicate features revealed in recent JWST spectra, challenging current theories. Using a general circulation model, we demonstrate that VHS 1256B's atmosphere is dominated by planetary-scale dust storms persisting for tens of days, with large patchy clouds propagating with equatorial waves. This weather pattern, distinct from the banded structures seen on solar system giants, simultaneously explains the observed spectra and critical features in the rotational light curves, including the large amplitude, irregular evolution, and wavelength dependence, as well as the variability trends observed in near-infrared color-magnitude diagrams of dusty substellar atmospheres.
Authors
- Natasha E. Batalha (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1240-6844)
- Andrew Skemer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6098-3924)
- Elena Manjavacas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0192-6887)
- Sasha Hinkley (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8074-2562)
- Johanna M. Vos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0489-1528)
- Emily Rickman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4203-9715)
- Niall Whiteford (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8818-1544)
- Xianyu Tan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2278-6932)
- Stanimir Metchev (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3050-8203)
- Beth Biller (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4614-7035)
- Genaro Suárez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2011-4924)
- G. Chauvin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4022-8598)
- Ben W. P. Lew (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1487-6452)
- Kielan K. W. Hoch (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9803-8255)
- Mark S. Marley (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5251-2943)
- Brittany Miles (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5500-4602)
- Simon Petrus (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0331-3654)
- Ben J. Sutlieff (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9962-132X)
- Yifan Zhou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2969-6040)
- Xi Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8706-6963)
Institutions
- Western University (CA)
- Ames Research Center (US)
- Space Telescope Science Institute (US)
- Goddard Space Flight Center (US)
- American Museum of Natural History (US)
- University of Arizona (US)
- Shanghai Jiao Tong University (CN)
- University of California, Santa Cruz (US)
- Trinity College Dublin (IE)
- University of Exeter (GB)
- McCormick (United States) (US)
- Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (DE)
- Bay Area Environmental Research Institute (US)
- Scottish Universities Physics Alliance (GB)
- University of Virginia (US)
- University of Edinburgh (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Science Advances
- Published
- 2025-11-26
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adv3324
- Primary Topic
- Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00